The Arecibo Observatory 's massive radio. Nestled into the jungle of Puerto Rico, the Arecibo Observatory's jewel was its vast radio dish, spanning 1,000 feet (305 meters) across and famous for its appearances in movies such as 'Contact. Engineers had assessed the situation after the first cable broke, noting that about 12 of the roughly 160 wires of the second cable that eventually broke had already snapped, said Ashley Zauderer, program officer for Arecibo Observatory at NSF. Puerto Rico's iconic radio telescope, which collapsed in 2020, won't be rebuilt, although the site will see a new education center open next year. Officials suspect a potential manufacturing error is to blame for the auxiliary cable that snapped, but say they are surprised that a main cable broke about three months later given that it was supporting only about 60% of its capacity.
“Even attempts at stabilization or testing the cables could result in accelerating the catastrophic failure.” “The telescope is currently at serious risk of unexpected, uncontrolled collapse,” he said. Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences, stressed that the decision has nothing to do with the observatory’s capabilities, which have allowed scientists to study pulsars to detect gravitational waves as well as search for neutral hydrogen, which can reveal how certain cosmic structures are formed. It was the site of the world’s largest single-unit radio telescope until FAST in China began observations in 2016. A review found that the 305m telescope was at risk of catastrophic collapse.
Puerto rico telescope movie#
The telescope boasts a 1,000-foot-wide dish featured in the Jodie Foster film “Contact” and the James Bond movie “GoldenEye.” Scientists worldwide have used the dish along with the 900-ton platform hanging 450 feet above it to track asteroids on a path to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel Prize and determine if a planet is potentially habitable. Arecibo Observatory, astronomical observatory located 16 km (10 miles) south of the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. The iconic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico is to be dismantled amid safety fears, officials have announced.
0 kommentar(er)
